MINAMI-SANRIKU, Miyagi Prefecture--Despite a terrifying experience, Jinichi Sasaki, 48, counts himself as one of the lucky ones.
MINAMI-SANRIKU, Miyagi Prefecture--Despite a terrifying experience, Jinichi Sasaki, 48, counts himself as one of the lucky ones.
A member of the board of education in charge of lifelong learning, he was working in his office in the Shizugawa community center Friday afternoon when the magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck.
Following official earthquake response procedures, he raced to his car and drove to close a floodgate, about 5 kilometers away.
After closing the dikes, he then drove to the municipal Tokura Junior High School, which was to become an evacuation center. But after traveling 200 meters on Route 398, water began crossing the road in front of his car. Sasaki made a quick U-turn and tried to get away but water appeared in that direction, too.
"This could be the end," he thought. "Now let me face it."
Believing he was about to die, he drove in the direction of the sea.
Huge dark waves filled lumber and debris overwhelmed his vehicle and everything went dark. Sasaki's courage and the car's ability to temporarily withstand the swirling water and the dangerous floating debris saved his life.
But his vehicle tilted nose down and eventually water began to pour in. Sasaki desperately tried to escape but he couldn't get the door open. Just as he thought he was going to drown, a heavy timber smashed the rear window.
Through the darkness, he saw a faint light. Sasaki climbed toward it, trying to get out from the broken window by standing on the front seat's headrest.
But as hard as he tried, he couldn't escape as the car was carried away by the waves.
Just as he was about to lose all hope, he heard a man's voice calling to him from a second-floor balcony. "Grab the tire," the voice said.
Sasaki tried but couldn't reach it.
And then he saw an electric cable dangling nearby. He knew it could be his last chance. As he grabbed it, waves passed over his head. He choked on the muddy water and lost consciousness.
Sometime later, Sasaki came to as someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"You are safe. You did well," a man said. "Go up to the top of the hill before the second surge of waves arrives."
Collecting himself on the 30-meter hill, Sasaki discovered how lucky he had been. He found just a few scratches on his hands.
"I have been given life thankfully," he said. "Now I want to help others."
Without displaying the exhaustion he must have felt, Sasaki headed toward an evacuation center where people in need were waiting.
(This article was written by Daisuke Ono and Narumi Ota.)